Abstract
One purpose for analyzing the neural and endocrine mechanisms for an individual behaviour in considerable cellular and molecular detail is to provide the empirical platform for increasingly precise investigations of nerve cell function. Thus, with respect to neuroendocrine mechanisms of interest for reproductive behaviour, we use cDNA/RNA in situ hybridization as a measure of gene expression in hypothalamic pells, for looking at levels of ribosomal RNA (Jones, Chikaraishi, Harrington, McEwen and Pfaff, 1986), LHRH messenger RNA (Shivers, Harlan, Hejtmancik, Conn and Pfaff, 1986; Rothfeld, et al., 1986), and the message for proenkephalin (Romano et al., 1986). Proteins synthesized in ventral medial hypothalamic neurones and transported to the midbrain may be of direct relevance for the control of female reproductive behaviour (Mobbs, Harlan and Pfaff, 1985, 1986), for example through influences on the electrical excitability of midbrain central gray neurones (Sakuma and Pfaff, 1980).
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution.
Buying options
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Learn about institutional subscriptionsPreview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
References
Chung, S., Pfaff, D. and Cohen, R. (1986a) Neuroscience, submitted.
Chung, S., Pfaff, D. and Cohen, R. (1986b) Neuroscience, submitted.
Cohen, R.S. and Pfaff, D.W. (1985) Cell biological and math-logical theories of the neural circuit for steroid-dependent female reproductive behaviour. Integr. Psychiatry 3, 262–279.
Cottingham, S. and Pfaff, D.W. (1986) Interconnectedness of sex steroid- binding neurons: theoretical implications. In: Current Topics of Neuroendocrinology, Vol. 7, in press.
Dertouzos, M.L. (1965) Threshold Logic: A Synthesis Approach. MIT Press: Cambridge
Edelman, G.M. and Mountcastle, V.B. (1978) The Mindful Brain: Cortical Organization and the Group-Selective Theory of Higher Brain Function. MIT Press: Cambridge
Jones, K.J., Chikaraishi, D.M., Harrington, C.A., McEwen, B.S. and Pfaff, D.W. (1986) Estradiol (E2)-induced changes in rRNA levels in rat hypothalamic neurons detected by in situ hybridization. Mol. Brain Res. submitted.
Kow, L.-M., Montgomery, M. and Pfaff, D.W. (1977) Effects of spinal cord transections on lordosis reflex in female rats. Brain Res. 123, 75–88.
Kow, L.-M. and Pfaff, D.W. (1982) Responses of medullary reticulospinal and other reticular neurons to somatosensory and brainstem stimulation in anesthetized or freely-moving ovariectomized rats with or without estrogen treatment. Exp. Brain Res. 47, 191–202.
Matsumoto, A. and Arai, Y. (1979) Synaptogenic effect of estrogen on the hypothalamic arcuate nucleus of the adult female rat. Cell Tissue Res. 198, 427–433.
Mobbs, C.V., Harlan, R.E. and Pfaff, D.W. (1985) An estradiol-induced protein synthesized in the ventral medial hypothalamus (VMN) and transported to the midbrain central gray (MCG). Soc. Neurosci. Abstracts, 11, 1271.
Mobbs, C.V., Harlan, R.E. and Pfaff, D.W. (1986) An estradiol-induced protein in the hypothalamus. J. Neurosci. submitted.
Mobbs, C.V. and Pfaff, D.W. (1987) Estrogen regulated neuronal plasticity. In Strauss, G. and Pfaff, D. Molecular Neurobiology: Endocrine Approaches. Academic Press: New York, in press.
Morrell, J.I. and Pfaff, D.W. (1978) A neuroendocrine approach to brain function: Localization of sex steroid concentrating cells in vertebrate brains. Amer. Zool. 18, 447–460.
Morrell, J.I., Krieger, M.S. and Pfaff, D.W. (1986) Quantitative autoradiographic analysis of estradiol retention by cells in the preoptic area, hypothalamus and amygdala. Exp. Brain Res. 62, 343–354.
Nishizuka, M. and Pfaff, D.W. (1983) Pattern of synapses on ventromedial hypothalamic neurons in the female rat: An electron microscopic study. Soc. Neurosci. Abstracts, 9, 317.
Pfaff, D.W. (1968) Uptake of estradiol-17 β-H3 in the female rat brain. An autoradiographic study. Endocrinology 82, 1149–1155.
Pfaff, D.W. (1980) Estrogens and Brain Function: Neural Analysis of a Hormone-Controlled Mammalian Reproductive Behavior. Springer: New York.
Pfaff, D.W. (Editor) (1982) The Physiological Mechanisms of Motivation. Springer: Heidelberg.
Pfaff, D.W. (1983) Impact of estrogens on hypothalamic nerve cells: Ultrastructural, chemical, and electrical effects. Recent Progress in Hormone Research 39, 127–179.
Pfaff, D.W. and Cohen, R.S. (1986) Estrogen has trophic effects on hypothalamic neurons, and on the regions in which they synapse. In: Leung et al., Plenum: New York, in press.
Pfaff, D.W. and Keiner, M. (1973) Atlas of estradiol-concentrating cells in the central nervous system of the female rat. J. Comp. Neurol. 151, 121–158.
Pfaff, D.W. and Schwartz-Giblin, S. (1986) Physiological mechanisms of female reproductive behaviour. In Textbook of Physiology. Knobil, E. and Neill, J., eds. Raven Press: New York, in press.
Romano et al. (1986) Soc. Neurosci . Abstracts, in press.
Rothfeld et al. (1986) Soc. Neurosci . Abstracts, in press.
Sakuma, Y. and Pfaff, D.W. (1980) Excitability of female rat central gray cells with medullary projections: Changes produced by hypothalamic stimulation and estrogen treatment. J. Neurophysiol. 44, 1012–1023.
Scheibel, M.E. and Scheibel, A.B. (1958) Structural substrates for integrative patterns in the brainstem reticular core. In Jasper, H.H., Proctor, L.D., Knighton, R.S., Noshay, W.C. and Costello, R.T., eds., Reticular Formation of the Brain, Little Brown: Boston, pp 31–55.
Shivers, B.D., Harlan, R.E., Hejtmancik, J.F., Conn, P.M. and Pfaff, D.W. (1986) Localization of cells containing LHRH-like mRNA in rat forebrain using in situ hybridization. Endrocrinology 118, 883–885.
Siegel, J.M. (1979) Behavioral Functions of the Reticular Formation. Brain Res. Reviews 1, 69–105.
Sullivan, J.M., Schwartz-Giblin, S. and Pfaff, D.W. (1986) Correlations between EEG state and spontaneous and evoked axial muscle EMG. Brain Res. 368, 197–200.
Zemlan, F.P., Kow, L.-M. and Pfaff, D.W. (1983) Effect of interruption of bulbospinal pathways on lordosis, posture, and locomotion. Exp. Neurol. 81, 177–194.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 1987 Plenum Press, New York
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Pfaff, D.W., Mobbs, C.V. (1987). Some Concepts deriving from the Neural Circuit for a Hormone-Driven Mammalian Reproductive Behaviour. In: McLennan, H., Ledsome, J.R., McIntosh, C.H.S., Jones, D.R. (eds) Advances in Physiological Research. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9492-5_13
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4615-9492-5_13
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-1-4615-9494-9
Online ISBN: 978-1-4615-9492-5
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive